Being at Metalhead in Oslo nowadays is an easy task. Within’ a month’s time – Slayer, Mötley Crüe, System Of A Down, Wednesday 13, Stonegard, Slipknot, Iron Maiden, Mastodon, Black Sabbath, and Soulfly have been in town to deliver some heavy duty music.
And kicking it all off, the San Fransisco Thrash veterans, Slayer. Still without a new album in their bag, Tom Araya and company (including the returning Dave Lombardo) are kicking the living shit out of venues on both sides of the Atlantic.
Visiting Oslo in October 2004, Slayer and Slipknot played for a full house at the Oslo Spektrum (8000 people), but within a week this June, they both play at the 1400 capacity Rockefeller Music Hall. For Slayer-fans, that’s a real treat right there, only because these guys have been delivering their goods in arenas since they broke big with Reign In Blood some 19 years ago (although they played this very venue on 1988’s South Of Heaven tour).
Last time they were here, a stunning 75-minute set made up the best Metal experience in Oslo in 2004. This time, another half hour was added – still including all the great gems from their legendary back catalogue.
As usual for the last few years, “Discipline” started it all, followed by “War Ensemble.” Further on, “At Dawn They Sleep,” “Mandatory Suicide,” and “Fight ’til Death” were highly welcomed old-school Slayer.
Things didn’t quite happen for Slayer all through the 90s, but in-between here and there, on disappointing albums like Diabolus In Musica, there are highlights, and “Stain Of Mind” is definitely one of them, deserving a spot in the Slayer set 7 years since its release. Other tracks missed the last time were “Bloodline,” “God Send Death,” and “Threshold” off God Hates Us All.
In other words, the songs in addition to the flawless set well-served in October 2004 were taken from the band’s most recent albums, without ruining the total impression of the gig. Because, yet again, Slayer delivered 100 fast minutes of classics, old and very old, to an enthusiastic crowd… and many of them were probably showing up the day after as well, as Slayer were playing a double show in Oslo this time around.
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